May 11, 2018 – Friday
Mom’s Day is coming up and I’m feeling detached from the one whom I call mom and from the two that use that term for me! I’m 2079 miles away from my mom – and 1345 miles in one direction and 842 miles in another from my kids. The dogs on this day don’t count.
Too far away from everyone. I don’t like it.
My mom’s mom (my Grandma) was sick a lot and I think that’s when the “nursing bug” bit my mom. She never went to college but she would have made a good medical person. I think she got enough practice just with me (when I was a kid) to become a doctor without med school.
I was a sickly thing … always some odd, textbook ailment for me! So, with a family of 5 and no dishwasher and everything made out of 100% cotton so that even underwear (or so it seemed) needed ironing (I remember her ironing a LOT!!!!) – she found time to tend to me. I have no idea how she found the time (or the patience) … but she did.
Thanks, mom. Chicken in the Biskit crackers, ginger ale or rye toast always make me feel better. Crayons, too. Those were always “at the ready” for me! I was probably a big worry! Sorry about that!
We grew up in your typical suburban 1200 square foot ranch w/carport … 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, eat-in kitchen, full (finished) basement, great yard. Think Father Knows Best meets Leave it to Beaver – but better! It was a really nice house to grow up in in the late 50’s/60’s. My dad went off to work every day (for a zillion years) and my mom stayed home to tend to the house (and whatever child was not of school age or sick … which was, in both instances … me!).
She was a savvy decorator (unique/personal touches everywhere) and she kept a tidy home … even though we had a veritable zoo of animals living with us! Not sure how she did it! We had dogs and litters of dogs, hamsters and guinea pigs and my brother’s room was filled with tanks of tadpoles and toads, lizards and caterpillars, emerging butterflies and moths and if that wasn’t enough – five box turtles and one crooked-tailed iguana had the run of the house! My mom was a saint!
And as a stay-at-home mom … it meant that she just didn’t STAY AT HOME … she was a super woman! In order to keep house for 5 people, without modern day conveniences – everything (but the yard) was on her shoulders. She was a maid and a cook and a nursemaid … and a seamstress, teacher, gardener, Girl Scout leader, church volunteer, nanny, gopher, laundress, entertainer, pet keeper, household manager … you get the picture. In other words … she was a MOM! Our hero!
Thanks, mom. I know some times really couldn’t have been very easy.
There are 3 kids in our family … I am the youngest (and best – and most humble! Ha ha!) and I’m sure it wasn’t easy juggling everything she did (or needed to do) with us rugrats running amok all the time – smuggling turtles and puppies into beds, reading late into the evening under our covers with flashlights, getting virtually little or no help from us – seriously, what kind of “help” can a 4 yr old give?
As kids – and kids with friends – we did a ton of crafts at the basement counter (a fabulous thing!) … most of which included glue and glitter. No problem. Or paint. Not an issue. My brother would bring home an armload of frogs and she’d never even blink an eye! The only time I remember her screeching was when she picked up (what she thought was a piece of paper) – a squishy piece of turtle poop! If you’ve never smelled turtle poop – count yourself amongst the lucky ones. They eat worms … enough said. Anyway – of course we laughed our heads off … and it was even funnier cuz we were messing around with the reel-to-reel tape recorder in the basement and caught her reaction on tape! Sorry mom – still funny.
I can’t think of anything special my mom would make for dinners … except for chipped beef on toast. Still, to this day, one of my all time favorite comfort foods! I jazz it up a bit with wine and mushrooms now, but if I’m needing food solace that is my #1 go-to meal! And though she didn’t have a signature dish – everything she made was yummy. Well, except for the beef kidney pie she’d make for my dad! Walking home from school I could smell it from the mailbox, seven houses away! Those were the days I just kept walking to my best friend’s house and stayed there for dinner! (Sorry again, mom … but that BKP was disgusting!)
My mom always set a pretty table (even still) – even on normal, everyday week nights. Sometimes she would put half a pear on a piece of lettuce (on a separate salad plate – so it was “fancy”) and drizzle over it a bit of thinned mayo and top it with a few chopped walnuts or pecans. I hated that salad! (The visual of the pear syrup mixing with the mayo sauce makes my stomach flip to this day!) But it was so pretty!
Thanks, mom! I learned a lot from you!
We were the party house for friends and relatives and holidays and the many, many, many sleepovers as well as all those birthday parties … so many fun times! And she endured them all with homemade treats and handmade Halloween costumes! She was a trooper and always, ALWAYS out-did herself with dinners and decorations.
So, thanks mom for all the ironed clothes and yummy dinners and parties of my youth … the crackers and ginger ale and pizza rolls … the love and support along the way … pretty houses to live in and for all that you infused in me as I was growing up that I didn’t realize until I was a mom myself. And, thanks for your patience and ease for all things kids and animals (including grandkids and grand-animals)!
You are a special lady. We all love you. I hope this will be a really nice day for you – your 66th special day of celebrating you as a mom!
Happy Mom’s Day!